Twice the Miller
by marsbarr
Summary: Let's turn the clock back to Chicago. Same Jess, same Nick, same story. With just one little change. The girl who took Nick's heart first, his younger cousin. /slightly au/flash forwards each chapter/completely ness
1. Chapter 1: Chicago

CHICAGO

* * *

As the gang stood outside Nick Miller's childhood home, each one prepares for what's about to happen.

"So this is where Nick Miller grew up," Jess admired the home.

"Well, except for the fall of '88 to spring of '89. That was our van year." Nick expressed.

Jess looked at him, "I just want you to know - I am here for you," She gave him a sincere smile and he returned the favor.

He nods, "Okay."

"I'm gonna be strong for you, man," Winston chimes in, "You know, I really did love Walt."

"He was my dad, Winston."

"Yeah, but, I mean, he loved me more than he loved you. He told me that."

"Yeah, he told me that, too, actually."

"Sorry."

Standing to the side, Schmidt acts uneasy and Nick notices, "You okay, Schmidt?"

"I didn't want to make this about me, but the airline lost my bag. I wanted to look fantastic for your father's funeral. Now I have nothing but the schmatta on my back."

The friends just accepted Schmidt's problem.

"All right," Nick says after slapping his face around to prepare for the craziness that is his family, "Let's do this." Nick walks up the pathway while Winston holds Jess back for a second,

"Uh, Jess, we should warn you… Nick's family- a little crazy."

* * *

As soon as he enters the house, he's greeted with the sounds of an argument and footsteps running around. Some teenagers run past Nick and greet him as he enters the living room to hear the argument clearer.

"No, it's called soda."

"It's called pop!"

"It's called soda."

"Why would you call it soda if it's pop? - You call your dad pop!"

Nick walks into the argument between his brother and cousin, "Hey," he interrupts.

The other family members around notices his presence,

"It's Nick!"

"Hey, Nickels."

"My brother Nick's back, guys." Jamie exclaims.

"My condolences, all right?" Cousin Bobby greets Nick with a handshake, "Thanks for making it out. Sorry about that. Your brother's being a douche," he points to Jamie.

"I'm not being a douche! I'm emotional!" He pulls Nick in for a hug as he starts to tear up again, "Oh God—"

"You've been a douche all day," Cousin Bobby mutters.

"You been been crying a bunch, buddy?" Nick hugs his brother back and comforts him.

Jess and the boys have stayed behind watching Nick's interaction with his family. This wasn't anything new to Schmidt and Winston but to Jess, it was like flipping a page of a book and being smacked with a different storyline.

"Nicky!" An older woman descends the stairs. Nick turns around to greet her,

"Hey, Ma." He embraces her as she says,

"I miss him, Nicky."

"Yeah, I know, Ma."

"That bastard was a saint. A saint. The bastard."

"I know. Come here," He envelopes her in a hug again.

"This is getting very personal," Schmidt tells Jess and Winston, "May-maybe none of us should go to the funeral. The early buzz on this thing is that it's gonna be a real drag."

"So, what still needs to get done?" Nick asks his mom.

"We need to, uh, get the groceries… uh, plan the funeral, call the paper," As she starts listing these items off, Nick does a double take,

"Whoa, whoa, whoa… Did you say 'plan the funeral'?"

"That's why you're here, Nicky. You take care of everything."

Still standing off to the side, Jess notices the dynamic in Nick's family, "Is Nick taking care of people?" She asks the boys,

"Yeah, with Pop-Pop coming and going, Nick had to step up and be the man of the family. Pretty much takes care of all of them."

"Don't laugh when they call him responsible. They don't know why that's hilarious," Schmidt chimes in.

Jess decides it's time to stop awkwardly standing in the foyer and goes up to Nick and Mrs. Miller,

"Um… Hi, Mrs. Miller. I'm so sorry for your loss. If there's anything I can do to help, I-"

"Who are you?" Mrs. Miller turns to Jess, unfamiliar with the woman standing in her home,

"Oh, I'm sorry. I'm Jess," she extends her hand,

"This is Jess, my new roommate." Nick introduces her.

"So nice to meet you," Jess is still shaking Mrs. Miller's hand,

"I've told you about her, Ma"

"Winnie and Fat Schmidt I know- hey, boys," Mrs. Miller greets them and they wave back. Just then, clad in all black, a younger woman descends the stairs. Nick looks up to see his favorite cousin, Mia- no offense to Bobby. She's just that much better.

"Hey, Nicky," Mia smiles as she gets downstairs. Jess notices a smile forming onto Nick's face as he crosses between her and his Mom to greet Mia.

Nick goes to hug Mia tight. As Mia pats his back while he does so, she asks him, "You okay?"

"I am now." Nick mutters into her shoulders. They separate from each other and Mia looks at Nick. She gives him a sad smile knowing full well that he is not okay. Nick turns to everyone and gestures to Mia, "Uh, Jess, this is Mia, my cousin,"

Jess had been standing there just watching their interaction until her name was called, "Oh, hi" she extends her hand to Mia and she shakes it. Jess looks this young woman up and down. Nick has never mentioned a Mia before and the moment that those two just shared a few seconds ago, really intrigued her. It's clear Mia is someone important to Nick but why hasn't she heard of her? Jess is still shaking Mia's hand until she notices the expression on the younger woman's face, "Oh, sorry. I'm Jess, Nick's new roommate,"

Mia nods, "I gathered that." Mia turns to look at Schmidt and Winston, "What's up, guys,"

"Sup, lil M." Schmidt greets while Winston salutes.

* * *

A few hours pass and the house is finally quiet. Jess makes her way down the stairs in her signature pajamas and finds Nick in the office, punching in numbers, doing calculations- stuff that grownups do.

"Hey," she leans against the door frame,

"Hey, Jess" he looks up at her for a split second and goes back to calculating expenses,

"It's like a whole secret life for you. You're not even looking at the numbers."

Nick smiles, "Aunt Ruthie used to call this the Iron Jew."

"Wow." Nick chuckles as he gets back to work. Jess takes a few seconds to watch him. "Are you having time to process this?"

"Yeah, I'm just trying to figure out the level of Elvis impersonator we can afford."

"Uh-huh,"

"And I think a white one's out of reach."

Jess approaches him at the desk, "Is there anything I could do to help?"

It takes him half a second, "The eulogy."

"Sorry?"

"Oh, that would be really helpful! 'Cause that's been getting in my way a little bit."

"I didn't really know your dad except the one hour that I committed fraud with him."

"That's all there is to know, really."

"I think that's, you know, one task I think maybe is better if you-"

"Look, I've got to figure out an Elvis theme. You know, Elvis-themed flowers and food and music all in a day.

I just… You asked if there was anything you could do, and there is." The stress in his voice worried her, so Jess nods,

"Okay."

"Yay! Thank you."

"I'll do it. Yeah."

"Oh, you are the best." Nick looks down again at the paperwork.

Knowing full well that he shouldn't be disturbed at the moment, Jess shuffles to the kitchen and finds Mia sitting at the kitchen island. The younger woman sipped on her glass of… _was that Scotch? Bourbon? How old is she?_ Jess asked herself.

"Oh, hey," Mia noticed Jess' presence, "want some?" She gestured to her glass,

"Oh, no, thank you. It's past 9, I shouldn't." Jess chuckles as she reaches for a glass of water.

Mia frowns, "You're in the Miller household, alcohol time is _all_ the time," she stares down at her almost empty glass. After filling up hers with water, Jess turns to set her glass on the island and sat next to Mia.

"I know we just met… but how are you doing?"

Mia looks to Jess, confused. "What?"

"I mean with all this. It's clear Nick isn't doing okay and his brother is definitely not okay. But you seem to be the calmest and that worries me,"

Mia opens her mouth to say something but closes it again. _Who is this woman, why is she asking her questions._ Mia's face expression reminded Jess of someone else's. Mia's lips turned downward as she stared back at her glass of alcohol. "You're right, we just met… this is weird."

Jess leaned on the island and just looked at Mia. She's a tough cookie and Jess was intent on cracking her. She seemed like an important enough person in Nick's life so Jess wanted to make sure she got to know her. A few moments of silence passed and Mia slowly turned to look at Jess. Finding that the buggy-eyed woman was still sitting there just waiting, Mia rolled her eyes and took a deep breath,

"Walt was my Uncle," Mia answered after awhile, "my parents split back when I was 7, and Uncle Walt just took my Mom and I in. He helped us find a better place to live, which is the house literally across the street," she chuckles while Jess smiled. "Anyways, uh, with him gone…" Mia's lips turned downward again as she shook her head, "it's just weird."

"I understand," Jess tells her.

Mia turns to look at Jess again, "So what's the deal with you and Nick?"

Taken aback by the question, Jess grabs for her glass of water, "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh, come on, Jess… it's Jess, right?" She nods, "I smelled the tension the moment I was in the same room as you guys." Mia smirks.

"Nothing. There's no deal with Nick and I."

Mia smirks even harder as she takes the last sip of her drink, "Oh, I know Nick. I know Nick like the back of my hand. There's a deal there… somewhere."

Jess squints her eyes at the younger woman, "What's the deal with _you_ and Nick?" She tries to divert the subject, "He's never told me about a 'Cousin Mia.'"

Mia chuckles, completely aware of Jess' subject change. But, she's had a couple of drinks tonight and this woman seemed to not be going away for awhile, "That's just like him. He doesn't usually tell people about me because he's pretty protective and at the same time, he fears that they'd all prefer me over him,"

Jess laughs, "What?"

"Yeah, it's true. You know, he's not the only responsible one in the family," Mia chuckles, "I mean, granted, I'm only 24 but I'm a college graduate, I work at a production company in New York, I workout everyday and I can take care of plants. But, to Nick, I'm just little old Mia who took a long amount of time to learn how to tie her shoes," Mia smiled down at her glass, "He was never a fan of the idea of me growing up. He wanted me to stay a kid forever."

"That sounds… nice," Jess smiled as she turned to her glass and took a sip.

"Yeah, then he moved to LA, and we barely talk now but… we're still close-"

Speaking of the devil, Nick walks into the kitchen,

"Ah, would you look at that," his hands raise up to gesture to the women, "my two favorite girls in the world." Said women paused their conversation to observe him. He chuckles and reaches for a Heisler in the fridge and walks out to return to his duties. Mia turns back to Jess with a smirk on her face,

"There is _so_ something between you two."

Jess shakes her head.

* * *

THE NEXT DAY

"So, um, I'm helping Nick with the eulogy-" Jess sits down on a recliner with a pad of paper and a pen in hand.

"I'll give you the goods on Walt, Glasses Face," Jamie and Bobby sat on the couch as Jess started to take notes, "My pop had a table at every diner in the city. He had silverware from the finest hotels in the area. He had a gold chain as thick as floss. But, like, thick floss."

"Wait, Walt's got that chain?" Bobby asks,

"Yeah, he got that chain. That's his chain."

"That was my dad's chain."

"No, it was Walt's signature piece."

"No, he got that from the Seiko watch deal."

"No, he got it from the dishwasher arrangement."

"No, he didn't!"

"Yes, he did! My dad took a dart in the eye for that."

"I don't care what your dad took a dart in the eye for-"

"Guys. Guys, guys, guys… Can we refocus?" After Jess looked back and forth at the two arguing men, she tried to catch their attention,

"I can't! Because he's accusing my father of thievery!"

"Hey! Can we just talk about Walt?"

The mood dynamic changed immediately, thanks to Jamie, "Yeah, so what's the deal with you and Nick? Are you guys, uh-" he starts to wiggle his eyebrows,

"Could you… could you stop doing that with your eyebrows? Please stop doing- stop." Now both Jamie and Bobby are wiggling their eyebrows,

"They're doing it." Bobby grins.

"They're doing it," Jamie agrees.

"Yeah.

"No," Jess exclaimed.

"Whoever denied it supplied it," Jamie pointed out. Jess, frustrated at the lack of info about Walt she got, stands up to head to the dining room. She paces back and forth while staring at her pad of paper. Mia walks in to a pacing Jessica Day, beer in hand.

"I can't write this," Jess says as she sets the paper down on the table.

"Nick's making crazy calls in the living room, you might wanna go check it out," Mia informs her as she takes a swig of beer.

"You do know it's like 9am right?" Jess points to the bottle of beer. Mia just shrugs. The two women walk to the living room as Nick is frantically making a deal on the phone,

" _$2,000?! What if it wasn't six feet under? How much for three feet?_ "

"I've gone through half a pack of ciggie gum here," Mrs. Miller panics, "Where are we on the food? We-we got to have Elvis food."

"Ma, I'm making calls right now."

"It's got to be perfect."

"It's gonna be perfect. You just got to let me do it."

Jess and Mia look back and forth between Nick and his Mom, "If the food isn't Elvis-themed, does it matter that much?" Jess asked the older woman while both Nick and Mia's eyes widened.

"You got a problem with Elvis?" Mrs. Miller turns to Jess,

"I don't-"

"No, she didn't say that," Nick pointed to the women, while he quickly hung up the phone, " _I'm gonna have to call you back_ \- No, she didn't say that. She didn't say that about Elvis." He turns his full attention to the women, he knows that Jess needs saving with his mom.

"I was just suggesting that maybe the Elvis theme doesn't matter as much-"

"You don't think Elvis is important?" Mrs. Miller is starting to heat up,

"She knows Elvis is important, Ma!"

"Elvis is everything!"

"I know! He's the King. He's the King. I'm sorry, Bonnie. He's the King," Jess was panicking, knowing exactly that she is not Mrs. Miller's favorite person right now. On damage control, Mia looks at Nick and Jess then follows her Aunt Bonnie.

"Jess,"

"Nick, I'm here to help… but I can't write this eulogy."

"Wait, what? I asked you to do one thing. I need you to write the eulogy,"

"But I didn't know Walt."

"Nobody wants to hear what I have to say about my dad."

"It doesn't matter what you say. You just… you have to say goodbye to him."

"I'm not asking you to do too much. Just write my father's eulogy!" Nick walks past Jess, his fingers massaging his temples, "I can't handle this!"

"Nick," Jess follows him, "Nick! Where are you going?"

Nick slams the front door shut and immediately comes right back in, "I forgot my jacket. It's really cold outside!" He grabs his jacket and leaves. Mia comes running down the stairs after comforting her Aunt Bonnie to find another situation going on.

"Nick, wait!" Jess stares at the door, not knowing what to do. Mia is already putting on her jacket while she looks at Jess,

"I got this. You stay here, handle the rest of the funeral plans, make sure Bobby and Jamie don't kill each other and that Winston gets Bonnie to the funeral. You might give her a heart attack if you ride in the same car and Winston just… he calms people down."

Jess nods, "Good plan." Jess turns to start the plan but turns around again, "where are you going?"

"I know exactly where Nick went."

* * *

At the shady, old bar Nick used to go to when he was younger, Mia finds him sitting on a stool, already downing drinks. She sits next to him,

"Hey, buddy-"

"Mia!" Clearly he has already had more than a few drinks, "Look at you!" His words were slurring, "You-" he pointed at her, "are so grown up. I'm sorry."

Mia tilted her head, "Sorry for what?"

"I haven't called," he tells her before finishing up a glass, "Or texted, or e-mailed or whatever the hell you kids do, nowadays,"

Mia chuckles, "That's okay, I figured you'd be busy-"

"Can you believe Jess?" Nick asks as he waves down the bartender for another drink, the bartender looks to Mia and she shakes her head. "I mean, I asked her to do one thing. One thing!"

"Nick, you asked her to write about Walt."

"Yeah,"

"Walt."

Nick nodded and looked down at his hands on the bar, "Walt. Miller."

"Walt Miller," Mia repeated, "He's not the easiest guy to write about."

"You are right,"

"Hey," Mia poked her cousin to get him to look at her, "You need to do it. Not Jess. You."

Nick looks at Mia, knowing she's right. He may have had too much to drink but his vision was still somewhat clear. He admired the girl next to him. Mia Miller. When Nick was younger he protected this girl with his life. Sure, they're cousins but he always felt they were closer than that. A person looks at her the wrong way? He'd fight them. Sure, she'll step in and rescue him but the thought was there. He taught her how to tie her shoelaces, how to shoot a basketball, how to down a drink in less than 5 seconds. His dad would bring her along to some of the games they'd go to and he was glad to have her around. Nick and Walt didn't get along all the time but with Mia there, everything was always good.

He placed a hand on Mia's shoulder while he raised the other for the bartender's attention and asked for a pen. He started to scribble on the napkin under his glass.

* * *

At the funeral home, Jess frantically looks around and finds Winston, "Hey, when's the last time you saw Nick?" Jess whispered to him in a panic.

"Is he not here?"

"What are you guys talking about?" Schmidt appears from behind a door,

"Schmidt, if you want to hear what we're saying, come over here."

"Don't shout across the room," Winston tells him.

"It's bad luck to see the body before the funeral." Schmidt responds.

"No, that's, like, a wedding thing, Schmidt."

"Shh."

Jess turns back to Winston, "I think I said something to Nick. I think this is my fault."

Just then, three figures walked into the funeral home, "Hey, everybody! I brought Elvis! Funeral saved." Nick staggers in with Mia keeping him afloat while a random man walks beside them.

"What?!" Jess approaches the three.

"Hey, happy funeral, Jess."

"What happened?!" Jess asks Nick but mostly asking the sober one, Mia. She was about to answer when Nick moves his arm from Mia's shoulder,

"What happened is, I found this guy at the bar and he fits into the costume," he points to the man beside him, "so for 20 bucks, he's gonna be Elvis."

"I thought you wanted me to kill Elvis for 20 bucks," The man speaks up.

"Then why would I give you the outfit, _Brendan_?"

"The element of surprise?"

Jess turns to Mia with wide eyes, "He already talked to this guy before I got to him," Mia explained, guiltily. Winston looked on in shock of what was happening.

"Whose birthday is it?" Brendan asks,

"No, it's my dad's funeral." Nick answered.

"I'm gonna go find cake," Brendan walks away with the Elvis costume, clearly still drunk.

"How much have you had to drink?" Jess asked Nick while grabbing his hands to steady him.

"One dozen beers," he answered with his words still slurring a little. Mia shook her head and raised two fingers.

"And I wrote- I did what you asked me to do, Jessica. I wrote the, uh, gigleography,"

"The what?"

"The gigleography." Winston and Schmidt both look with confused expressions.

"A 'gigleography'?"

"Urology."

"Elegy?"

"Eulogish!"

"You wrote the eulogy." Jess confirmed.

"That's what I've been saying the whole time- it's right here," Nick reaches for the napkin in his pocket and holds it up,

Winston reads it, " _Walt Miller. Am I right?_ "

"Am I right? Am I right?" Nick's still slurring his words and his eyes kept drooping.

"That's terrible." Schmidt grimaced.

"Googaliogy!" Nick exclaimed and Mia nodded her head.

"I should go look for Elvis," she suggests.

"Yes. All right, here's what we're gonna do. I'm gonna sober up Nick, you find Elvis," Jess points to Mia then turns to Winston, "You, go buy us some time." Both Mia and Winston leave to do their jobs, "Schmidt," Jess turns to him, "stop asking people if they can smell the body. That is rude."

"I'll try."

"It's inappropriate and it's offensive, okay? All right? I got this. Just don't say anything, okay?" Schmidt nods and leaves.

"Come on," Jess grabs Nick's arm to lead him to the bathroom.

* * *

IN THE BATHROOM

With a much calmer and sober demeanor, Nick looks at Jess while she washes him up, "I know you told me to write it, but I couldn't. I didn't have anything to say… You're mad at me. You've got the mad face. Mia does the same thing. You guys hangout too much,"

"I'm not mad at you, Nick. I'm not mad at you. I have your back. No matter what, no matter how stupid it gets, and-" she grabs a hold of both his arms, "you and I both know it can get really, really stupid."

"I am the stupidest of all the stupid boys."

"No. I'm gonna be there, and I'm gonna hold your hand, and I wanted to tell you that, but you ran away."

"Yeah."

The two of them exchanged looks. Jess knew from the beginning he wasn't okay. She wanted to help- with everything. She knew that if Nick did the eulogy, he'd feel much better. He'd be able to process his father's death better. He wasn't given much time at all and that was unfair to him. She reaches her hand up to fix his hair while Nick just admired her face.

Suddenly, a wild Elvis appears from the bathroom stall, "I want to meet your mom." He points to Nick and leaves the bathroom.

"Oh, my God." Jess panics and runs after him, "Hey, Elvis!"

* * *

Jess finds Mia confiscating Elvis' flask. "Hey, you good?" She asks Mia.

"Yeah, I finally got him to sit down," Mia sighs.

"Hey! What's going on?!" Mrs. Miller turns the corner, "This is Elvis?"

"No-" Jess tell her,

"This funeral's going down the toilet. I promised Walter it'd be beautiful and full of life. I promised. I'm sending everyone home."

"Wait, Bonnie," Jess walks after her and tries to tap her shoulder,

"Are you tapping me on the shoulder, girlie? Let me make this totally clear. I don't want you here. I don't know you. I don't know your people." With that low, growly voice, Bonnie Miller starts to leave but Jess wasn't having it so she quickly taps her shoulder again, terrified,

"You tap me twice?" Mrs. Miller's eyes widened,

"I- please wait for Nick. It's important." Jess begs her.

"Then why is he not here? No eulogy? No Elvis? I'd rather not have a funeral if it's not gonna honor my husband." Mrs. Miller walks away.

Jess turns around, disappointed. Brendan grunts, "And I'm out." Then slumps into his chair.

Mia groans and shakes her head. "Where is Nick?!"

Jess looks around and her eyes land on sleeping Elvis, "I've got an idea. Help me."

* * *

Bonnie Miller stood at the podium, looking as apologetic as she can be, "I want to thank you for coming, but it's, uh, over now, so-"

Mia comes running in quickly to sit at one of the pews while Jess makes her dramatic entrance, completely in Elvis attire, "Stop the funeral! Everybody sit down. This is the King." Jess tries her best at an Elvis impression,

"What the hell?" Bonnie Miller exclaims.

"I think you mean 'What the heaven?' Mama."

Mia leans forward in her seat and rubs her forehead, attempting to contain her laughter.

" _As the snow flies on a cold and gray Chicago morn-_ " Jess starts to sing,

"What is this?" Mrs. Miller yells.

" _A poor little baby child was born… in the ghetto,_ " the organ starts to join in and Jess is now in her element, " _In the ghetto! And his mama cried-_ "

Nick appears at the door, putting himself together and looks up to see the happenings in front of him, " _cause if there's one thing that she don't need, it's another hungry mouth to feed… in the ghetto. In the ghetto!_ " He immediately smiles, watching Jess save the day. Schmidt and Winston appear behind him, smiling at the scene as well.

"You know, this is every day in North Korea." Winston whispers.

Mia notices their presence and looks up at Nick who is too busy watching Jess. She sees the smile form on his face and Mia Miller, female version of Nick Miller, knows exactly what that smile says.

" _Down in Chi-town…in the ghetto… in the ghetto!_ " Jess is making her way down the aisle doing her best Elvis moves,

"I'm gonna hit her." Mrs. Miller tells Nick from across the room.

"Mom, please," He raised his hand to calm his mom down, "Dad would've liked this." Nick started making his way to the podium and the organ fades out, "He would've faked a slip and fall and sued the funeral home," the guests laugh, "But he would've liked this." He takes his place at the podium, "Thank you, Jess." He tells her,

"You're welcome, Mama." Jess responds into her microphone as she stands by.

"Oh…" Nick rests his hands on the podium and looks back at the casket for a moment. Mia slowly stands next to Schmidt, hoping that Nick would feel a lot more comfortable knowing they were all there. For him. For Walt. Schmidt, Winston and Mia stood at the back of the room, watching Nick collect himself.

"I used to always tell my dad that I hated Elvis just to piss him off. And he would get really mad the way Walt could get really mad. And, uh, he would turn it up loud just to spite me and sing all the Elvis songs," Jess smiled, "He was very good at gambling. He had a great mustache."

Winston whimpered, followed by a slap from Schmidt.

"And he was so mean to cabbies in such a cool way," Nick continued, "And he never was scared. How did he do that? I don't know if Walt was a good guy or a bad guy in the whole scheme of things, you know… But he was my dad, and I'm sure gonna miss him." Nick looked down, his hands playing around, not sure what to do. Jess notices this and walks to him. She slips her hand into his and Nick turns to her. The gesture not going unnoticed by Bonnie Miller.

"You okay, Mama?" Jess asks through the microphone,

"Yeah, I'm gonna be okay, Mama," Nick assures her.

" _'Cause if there's one thing that she don't need, it's another hungry mouth to feed in the ghetto…_ " As Jess starts to sing again, Nick smiles and nods but when Jess hands the microphone to him, his signature turtle face expression appears. " _in the ghetto…_ " Jess repeats. She points to him to continue and Nick chuckles.

With a raspy voice, he continues, " _In the ghetto!_ "

Mrs. Miller stands, " _In the ghetto._ " She gestures for everyone else to sing, " _In the ghetto… in the ghetto —- the ghetto —- in the ghetto._ " Mrs. Miller leads the guests into a sing-along. Nick and Jess laugh from the podium.

* * *

THE NEXT DAY

Outside of the lovely Chicago home, the LA crew make their way to their waiting taxi. After Bonnie says goodbye to Schmidt and Winston, Jess finds that it's her turn,

"Hey, Bonnie. Oh, sorry. I almost tapped you," Jess chuckles,

"You scare me." They both laugh.

Meanwhile, Nick and Mia walk out of the house, "You know, it doesn't hurt for you to call once in awhile," Nick jokes with her as they tread through the snow,

"Ha! The phone works both ways, Nicky." She shoved him and he laughs.

"I packed you a snack for the trip." Mrs. Miller pulls out a ziplock bag for Jess,

"Oh! Cheese puffs. Thank you." Jess smiles,

"Mm-hmm. Come here," Bonnie gestures for a hug,

"Oh!"

Nick watches on as his Mom finally accepts that Jess is part of his life, while Mia watches Nick.

"You like her."

Nick smiles then frowns, "What?" He turns to Mia.

"Jess. You like her." Mia crosses her arms in both a superior stance and also, because she's cold.

"Yea-no. Well, yeah. Of course, she's my friend."

"Mhm." Mia smirks at him and pulls him in for a hug.

"Come visit LA anytime," He tells her over her shoulder, "I know you're a New Yorker now, but let's face it, New York doesn't have what LA has," they pull away from each other,

"Which is?" Mia asks.

"Me." They both laugh, "I love you, lil M."

"Love you, too, Nicky."

* * *

Nick makes his way to his mother, "Hey, I couldn't find the, uh, cat. I looked all over, but I just decided to clean out the litter box."

Mrs. Miller pats her son's arm, "I owe you an apology."

"What are you talking about?"

"We all depended on you so much, and you were just a kid."

"Don't do this, Ma."

"I'm just saying."

"You're going through enough."

Bonnie nods and turns to look at Jess who's standing by the car, struggling to open the bag of cheese puffs.

"I'm glad you have someone who takes care of you." Mrs. Miller comments. She and Nick look on at Jess as Mia makes her way to the car, offering to help her.

Nick turns to his mom, "I love you, Ma." They hug and she pats his back,

"Visit more. So, I don't have to talk to your brother all the time." Nick laughs and Jamie comes running out of the house shouting in excitement then punches his brother in the crotch.

* * *

"Hey, Jess." Mia interrupts Jess' battle with the cheese puffs.

"Oh, hey, Mia," She looks up at her while Mia points to the bag,

"Do you need help with that?"

"Oh, haha, no. I should probably save it for the trip anyways." She chuckles, "What's up?"

"I just wanted to say… uh… thanks for listening?" Jess tilts her head, "I don't… I don't get to hang around girls a lot," Mia gestures to her family, mostly men. "I live alone in New York and… it… it was nice. To meet you, I mean."

"Yeah, you too," Jess smiles, "Hey, here's my number," Jess pulls out one of her calling cards that she knew one day would be worth it.

Mia takes the card, "Oh, wow… are those dancing horses?"

"Yup! Best $40 I ever spent."

Mia laughs while she shakes her head. She sees it now. She sees what Nick sees and she hopes he does, too.

"Call or text, or even e-mail me anytime. We'd love to have you at the loft for a visit."

Mia's still glancing at the card and then looks up at Jess, "Yeah… maybe. Thanks."

* * *

 _A/N: Here's a different point of view of Jess and Nick's relationship. I decided someone needs to speak up for the Ness fandom so, I put all of us into a character that will play a huge role in Ness. For the first few chapters, I'll be re-writing the scripts to the important Ness episodes up until we reach season 5 or 6 where a lot of stuff changes. This is Jess/Nick centered, so please remember that. I hope you guys like this idea. It's been in my head for weeks, now. And if you've read my PP fics before, yes, this plotline is very similar, haha. Chapter 2 will be up shortly!_


	2. Chapter 2: The Box

A YEAR LATER

THE BOX

* * *

After Schmidt's whole "I'm a good person" segment, Nick, Jess and Winston were all in the kitchen when they heard a knock on the door.

"I got a package for Nick Miller," Jess opened the door to a mysterious man, holding a paper bag.

"There's nobody here by that name," Jess turns to whisper at the guys, "I got this!" She winks.

"I saw that." The mysterious man pointed at her. Feeling a little scared, Jess yells,

"Run, Nick! Run!"

"Aah!" Nick panics while Winston, stood still, puzzled.

"Relax," the man exclaimed, "I'm with your late father's estate."

"Pop-Pop?" Winston asked.

"This is for him," The man gestures the bag at Nick and hands it over to Jess and dramatically runs to the elevator. Jess closes the door and turns to the guys,

"What's in there?" Nick pointed at the bag, "It's a hand, isn't it? Just tell me if it's a hand."

Jess peaked into the bag with wide eyes, "Oh, my God! It _is_ a hand."

"I knew it. It's a hand. What does that mean, though-"

"Full of dollar bills, y'all!" Jess reaches into the bag and throws the money in the air.

"You are rich, man!" Winston exclaims and Nick is still confused.

* * *

"Do the crystals make it look too glamorous?" Nick asked Jess as he put up the fancy portrait of himself in his room.

"It's really glamorous,"

"I don't even know. I don't know what's cool anymore," Nick shrugs.

"It could be a good time to start a bank account," Jess casually brings up the idea,

"Yeah, or I could just flush it down the toilet." Nick chuckles.

"It's not really the same thing, but-"

"A bank is just a paper bag but with fancier walls. That's all it is. I'm gonna keep my money where my mouth is. Um… under my nose. That saying actually _does_ work." Nick makes his way to his closet, grabs a box and sets it on his desk,

Curious, Jess asked, "What is that?"

"This is my box! It's where I keep all my junk that I don't feel like dealing with,"

Chuckling nervously, Jess points to the box, "That looks like a lot of bills. It's… _mostly_ bills,"

"Like I said, it's junk."

"You know, I'm just brainstorming here, but what if you paid some of those bills with the money you just got?"

"T-yeah, I'm gonna 'pay my bill.' And what's next? I'm gonna go to the doctor and get a checkup. Give them $500 to check my bones," He laughs as Jess is still nervously chuckling, "You're being funny."

Nick grabs the box after stuffing the paper bag in it and stores the box back in his closet. Jess kept eyeing it. It was begging to be dealt with. Just then, they heard a knock on the door.

"Again?" Nick asked no one.

Conflicted, Jess' eyes looked back and forth between the box and her boyfriend who is now making his way to the front door.

"I'll come back for you later," She whispered to the box and ran after Nick.

Opening the door wide open, Nick and Jess were greeted by a slim figure, a brunette with a small suitcase in hand,

"Mia!" Nick and Jess cheered.

"Me!"

Nick pulls his cousin in for a hug, completely surprised by the visit, "What are you doing here?! I didn't know you were coming!"

Mia tries to speak but taps on his back letting him know she can't breathe, "Oh, sorry," He let go of her and Jess went in for a hug, too.

"Well," Mia started as she let the cheery woman hug her, "I heard from a little birdie that you two were together-"

"Oh?" Nick asked, "What birdie?"

Mia deadpanned at Nick and gestured to the woman standing beside him. Jess sheepishly grinned,

"Mia and I have been texting and e-mailing since last year and we really hit it off and I let it slip a couple weeks ago that we were dating and she didn't know,"

"Yeah, that's something my own cousin should've told me. Especially after I kept mentioning it for a year so I thought I'd come to see it for myself-" Mia slaps Nick's chest.

"What?" Jess didn't know this information so she looked between the two Millers.

"Oh, uh…" Nick stuttered, "back home, Mia kinda implied-"

"I knew you two would be together by the end of the year, at most" the younger Miller interrupted him.

"Awww… you didn't tell me that. That wasn't in any of our e-mails,"

"Yeah, well we didn't talk much about you guys, in specific,"

Jess nodded until she realized they were still standing in the doorway, "Well, come in, come in! Nick take her bag,"

"On it." Nick grabbed Mia's suitcase and went to Jess' room to drop it off. Jess led Mia to the kitchen to pour her a cup of coffee.

"Actually, I'll think I'll take a beer." Jess stops in her tracks and squints her eyes at Mia. "What?" She asked, confused by the expression on Jess' face.

"It's 1 in the afternoon..."

"Is there a time for drinking?" Mia asked rhetorically as she made her way to the fridge and grabbed a Heisler.

"Technically, there is-" Jess answers but stopped herself, realizing that Mia wasn't really asking.

"Ah, already making yourself at home, I see," Nick pointed out as he met back up with them in the kitchen. He takes a seat on one of the stools, gesturing for Mia to grab a beer for him, she gladly took his request.

Jess looked between the two. Either they're very similar or they both have severe drinking problems. Thinking of problems, Jess remembered the box, "So! What are you guys up to today? Nick, you should take Mia out, give her the LA tour, you know, New York gal in LA, there's lots to see and stuff…" Jess acted a little squirrelly.

Nick nodded, agreeing with her idea, "Yeah, that sounds like a good idea, what do you think, lil M?"

Mia notices Jess' behavior but doesn't comment on it, "Yeah, I guess so or we could just chill, see what the day brings us."

"Great!" Jess exclaimed and left the kitchen, "See you guys later!"

Noticing Jess' actions, Mia's turtle-face matched Nick's, "You'll get used to it," he states.

* * *

1 HOUR LATER

" _That's, uh, $900 to the Parking Authority of Los Angeles. Oh, is it okay to mail cash? I'm gonna do it anyway. All right, it's on its way._ " Jess whispered into her phone and then hung up. Sitting on Nick's bedroom floor, she stared at the box realizing she hasn't even made a dent in the bills. She picks up few items, her bag and coat and makes her way out of the loft.

* * *

ANOTHER HOUR LATER

"You son of a bitch, Winston! That's what this is about?!" Nick stood up from the couch so quickly, Mia broke attention from her phone at the end of the couch and observed her cousin and his friend. Nick and Winston were just enjoying a couple of sliders five minutes ago and all of a sudden, it has turned into a yelling match.

"Nick, it's my money, okay?! Give it back to me!" Winston pleaded,

"I make a little bit of money and you come slipping out of the 'woodword'?!"

"You mean 'woodwork'?" Winston corrected him,

"What is 'woodwork'?" Nick yells back.

"What the hell is 'woodword'?!" Mia chimed in,

"Yeah, what's 'woodword'?" Winston, still quite confused,

"Wood! Word! Wood! Word!" Winston groaned as Nick continued to yell at him, "That's where people like you come crawling out of when people like me have money!"

"But you owe me that money!"

"Stay out of my damn box!"

"I'm not in your box!" Winston yells at him in frustration,

"Jess gets it, right?"

Mia looked to Jess not realizing she had quietly walked into the loft.

"Yeah, what's- what the hell, dude?" Jess tried to mask her guilt,

"I'm gonna go to the bar to blow off some steam," Nick told everyone in the room.

"That's a great idea. Go get loaded. You deserve it! Black out-" Jess encouraged,

"You are the only one that I trust around here," Nick moves to give her a kiss and leaves the loft.

Mia bites her lip, refraining from saying anything until Nick has officially left.

"What'd you do, Jess?" She asks her and Jess' eyes grew five times bigger. She quickly ran to her room, grabbed all the bills and put them back in the box. She made her way to Nick's room to store the box back in its place. Winston and Mia slowly walk into Nick's room with matching shocked faces,

"Ooooooh!" Winston hoots, "You went through Nick's box."

"Jess!" Mia looked at her with both amusement and disappointment.

"Look, you guys, it was so much worse than I thought!" Winston chuckled as Mia crossed her arms. She was judging but also laughing. "Why does he have the deed to an old Mercury Cougar in there?"

"Oh, yeah, he lost that." Winston reminded them of the time he, Schmidt and Nick were stranded without a car.

"I'll just get the money back!" Winston and Mia nodded in agreement. "Bill collectors are reasonable people, right?" Mia shook her head.

"That makes sense," Winston egged her on,

"You both better keep your mouth shut!" Jess pointed her finger back and forth at the two.

"Oh, I can't do that. I'm a Miller, Nick will know when I'm lying,"

"What? You sweat, too?"

"What? Gross, no. The opposite. I excessively drink water," Winston nods, already knowing this information then changes his misdemeanor towards Jess.

"I'll make you a deal. I'll keep my mouth shut if you pay me the money Nick owes me."

"Are you trying to blackmail me?" There's a beat of silence between the three until Jess grabs Winston's collars and pins him up against the wall,

"You don't scare me, Jess."

Mia is thoroughly amused while Jess and Winston scream as Jess smacks Winston's face. After not even thirty seconds of the mediocre abuse, Jess collects herself,

"How much does Nick owe you?"

"$1,900."

Jess sighs and Mia laughs.

* * *

ANOTHER OUR LATER

"It's your lucky day, old friend," Nick storms into the loft, Winston is startled at the dinner table while Mia is unnerved on the couch, already downing a bottle of water. "I had an interesting talk with Schmidt, and I've decided to give away my fortune. So, what do I owe you?

"How much money do-" Winston stutters,

Jess exits from her room after hearing the front door slamming, "Hey, guys, what's going on?"

Winston, still in his seat, greets Jess carefully, "Hey, Jess, um…"

"It's _tzatzik_ i is what it's called. It's a Jewish charity," Nick slowly turns to head to his room. He notices Mia on the couch downing her second bottle of water which alarms him.

"Nick was just about to pay me the money that he owes me," Winston carefully pronounced each word.

In a panic, Jess yells, "Wait!" And runs for Nick's room, shutting the door. Before Nick could say something to Mia, he tries to open his door.

"Come on, what are you doing?" Nick yells from the other side of the door.

Jess panics and grabs a lighter, "I'm uh… I'm lubing up, Sally."

"From ankles to ears? The door's locked. You want me to bust in?" Jess frantically shoves the box away as Nick drunkenly plows into the door but backfiring, "Son of a- it opened!" He runs into the room, "Where are you?" He looks around to see Jess halfway under his bed,

"Um, I just was hot, I wanted some shade."

"Oh, done that," Nick chuckles and makes his way to his box, after grabbing the paper bag, it felt light and looked empty, "He take my money? Winston!"

"It was me, it was me, it was me! I'm so sorry, I went through your box, I just couldn't help it and I paid some of your bills, and I'm so sorry I-"

Nick, with a full on disappointed expression on his face, leaves the room.

"Hey, Nick… You gonna leave me here? Nick! That's fair."

* * *

Nick walks to the living room which has been cleared by Winston, leaving Mia laying on the couch. He notices the 3 empty water bottles on the coffee table and he sighs, "Seriously?"

Mia looks up from her phone, "What?"

Nick gestures to the bottles. Mia sits up, waiting for his next words, "You knew and you didn't say anything?"

Mia opened her mouth and closed it again. She knew this might be Nick and Jess' first argument as a couple so naturally, she didn't want to meddle. Mia clamped her eyes shut but then opened them again to look at him,

"Nick… she's helping you out."

He groaned, "Oh, not you, too."

"Are you kidding me, Nick? Walt leaves you that much money and you just blow it on meaningless things?" Nick's hands rested at his hip, entering his annoyed stance. "Oh, right, I forgot. I'm talking to Nick Miller." Mia shook her head at him and grabbed her phone. She turned quickly to make her way to Jess' room whom she bumped into.

"Go easy." Mia whispered to Jess and then disappeared into the room.

Jess shuffled towards Nick who was still in his angry, annoyed stance, "Hey, Nick. Look, I know you're really angry and you have a right to be,"

"I have the right to be? I mean, why do you feel like you need to fix me? It's like you think you know better,"

"Well, I… I might know better than you... Did you start a corporation?"

"Was it Fat Face?"

"I think so."

"Yeah."

"Well, you're getting taxed like crazy."

"Well, that's because I thought I was filing a patent."

"Fat Face is an invention?"

"Kind of— in its intention it was suppo— it-"

"Are you a lifeguard?"

"No, that is a false certificate. Just a classic beach prank,"

"That seems dangerous."

"It's funny, 'cause I- I can't swim. Everyone was watching me, and I'm like, 'I don't know'— I was 13! … I was 26. This is the problem with the box. It's my private stuff!"

"You've never once done jury duty or paid your taxes,"

"Not until gay marriage is legal everywhere. I stand by that. And I don't want to do jury duty or pay taxes."

"Nick, you're in so much debt, it's crazy! You have to deal with this stuff."

"No, I don't, Jess, it's in my box,"

"That's not true, though."

"It's not a perfect system, Jess, but it's mine, okay? And it's private."

"Well, I'm sorry I went through your damn box, but I was just trying to help you, Nick."

"So maybe I'll try to help you. What if I went into your box?" Jess grimaced, "Not that,"

"Stop it!"

"I like that box, but I'm mad at you! I'm back to 'You disrespected me' okay,"

"I was just trying to help."

"Well, then, how about this… two can help. Okay? And if two are going to help, then I'll be one of them 'cause two can tango on this dance, okay? So, you want to waltz? Well, you picked the wrong dance partner. Two can play," Nick walked past her and frantically made his way to her room.

"What?" Jess followed him,

"Who needs changing, huh, who needs fixing?"

Mia, who was relaxing on Jess' bed was startled when her cousin came barging in. Jess came running after. She didn't realize the argument was making its way to Jess' room so she stood up from the bed to make her exit but before she could do so, Nick stops her, "Mia, you stay right there," He points at her. Mia takes a deep breath to compose herself and slowly turns around to the couple.

"I'm gonna go through your personal drawers, Jess, and see what needs changing,"

"Nick, you sound like a crazy person," Mia commented. Ignoring her, Nick pulls open Jess' side table drawer only to reveal a drawer full of peanuts.

Both the Millers' brows furrowed and turned to Jess. Nick picks up a handful of the peanuts, "What are you, a zoo elephant?" Nick asks,

"Those are my night peanuts!" She explained,

"There shouldn't be day peanuts and night peanuts! They're just peanuts!" Nick yells, throwing the peanuts onto the bed.

"I'm sorry, why is that weird?"

"You just have a bunch of boxes? I would change that. Oh, you have a bunch of metal toothpicks,"

"They're bobby pins,"

"Bobby pins." Both Jess and Mia pointed out,

"What's a bobby pin?"

"It keeps your hair back," Jess explained.

"You need Bobby's pins to put your hair up?"

"It's bobby pins, not Bobby's pins." Nick picks up a wad of yarn,

"What is this?!"

"Yarn."

"What are you knitting, a mansion?!"

Jess looks on at Nick as he tears apart her room while Mia is severely confused as to why her presence is needed.

"Oh, look at this! What do we have here? A bunch of beat-up old sacks!"

"My vintage purses."

"Well, you know what?! They could be sexier!

"You want my purses to be sexier?!"

"What?!" Mia exclaimed at her cousin's stupid comment, "Ok, I'm sorry but why am I here?"

Nick turns to his cousin, "Oh you know why,"

"No, I really don't."

"You knew Jess got into my box and you didn't even bother to tell me?! Whose side are you on?!"

"Wh- no one's!" Mia yelled back. "There isn't a side, Nick! Uncle Walt gave you money and you should've used that for good. Apparently, Jess here, has the right mind to even think of that!" The two Millers were now matching their tones in volume.

"So what, you're saying that I don't have the right mind?!"

"No! You don't! You never do!" And with that, Mia turned and left the room. The sound of the front door slamming only reminded the older Miller that he was still frustrated with Jess.

"Nick, can we jus-"

"Would it kill you to get something sleek, covered in gems for once?" Nick turned to Jess, waving one of her vintage purses in her face.

"You want my purses to be covered in gemstones?!"

"All guys do! That's what we think is sexy! We want to be playing a saxophone in an alley and have you walk by in a miniskirt with a purse with gems! But you girls don't listen!"

"What?!"

Before even thinking about it, Nick chucks the purses out the window, "Changing!"

"No! Nick, no!"

"This all is changing!"

"No, no, stop! That's disrespectful!" Jess is now trying to stop him from throwing the purses but his height and strength overpowered her.

"Gone!"

"Nick, stop it! No! You're just trying to get a rise out of me,"

Nick raises another purse and throws it out the window, "Gone!"

"Nick!"

"What?"

"Stop it! Look, I like you the way you are. I'm just asking you to grow a little."

"Are we ever gonna get to the point where you stop working on me? You do it, Mia does it. Instead of changing me, maybe once, Jess, see it my way."

"Well, your way's crazy and illegal."

"This is me, take it or leave it. I'm not changing for anyone,"

Jess looks at him. Clearly she's not getting through so she walks to her desk,

"Hey, where are you going?" Nick asks and sees she grabs a pen to starting writing something, "If you have something to say, just say it. Don't write me a note or-"

Jess turns back around after writing him a check, "That's the money I spent. Do what you want with it,"

"Thank you," he grabs the check and looks at it. He chuckled at the check, "A couple of best friend horses. That's neat." Jess starts to leave the room after she tells him with her calm and quiet voice that he better go talk to Mia.

* * *

Nick walks into The Griffin, knowing exactly where Mia would run off too. She's basically him. He finds her at the bar and sits down on the stool next to her.

Mia fiddled around with her drink, which seemed to be her third one if the two empty glasses next to her were any indication.

"A Manhattan… obvious choice," Nick comments. With Mia's annoyed expression on her face, she turns to him. She doesn't say a word, she doesn't need to and Nick knows that. He sighs and bows his head,

"I know. I'm sorry. It's just… You both got to me and I let my anger take over,"

"You let your stupidity take over," Mia corrected him, turning back to the bar. Nick nodded in agreement.

"Look, I'm my father's son… It's just what I do-"

"You can't use that as an excuse, Nick," She turns to him again but this time, all presence of anger has vanished. "Back home, I get it. You took care of everyone, you accepted that responsibility- but that doesn't mean you come here and forget all of that,"

Nick stays quiet as he lets her talk it out, "You're with Jess, now, Nicky… I'm not saying that you or her have to change for each other, I'm saying you guys need to meet at the middle." Nick nods in agreement, absorbing everything his wise, little cousin is dishing at him. After a few moments, he lays a hand on hers,

"Why are you really here, Mia?"

A change in her demeanor proved to Nick that she's hiding something. She turned away from him and reached for the drink.

"I told you… Jess mentioned it to me that you guys were finally-"

"Bullshit. You lost your temper with me back there, so either you're frustrated at something else or those classes aren't working for you,"

Mia sighed and set her drink down. "I was dating someone," Nick was intrigued. He sat up in his seat and gestured for her to go on, "We were together for 9 months… and he… wanted more. And I didn't. So… I walked out," Mia looked down at her hands, "For a second, I thought he'd come after me… but, he didn't so… now I'm here." Nick sighed and reached over to kiss her temple. "Wouldn't you go after Jess?" She asked him. Nick stood up from his seat,

"Come on, let's get you back to the loft... but first, we gotta go to the bank."

* * *

"Nick's right. I have too many purses."

Jess sat on the side of the curb, outside the loft. She's accompanied by Outside Dave who is busy checking out his new purses. As she continued her revelation about her vintage purses and the argument with Nick, Jess' phone started to ring and after taking the phone call, she makes her way to her car.

* * *

AT THE BANK

The bank teller Nick was dealing with had contacted Jess. "I'm sorry to bother you, Miss Day, but this man was trying to open an account with a check in your name and a paper bag full of money,"

"Would you please stop hovering? I'm being cooperative," Nick gestures to the security guard.

Jess smiles and turns back to the woman, "It's fine. He's okay. Thank you, though," As they're left alone for a minute, Jess approaches the rugged man in the seat, "Opening a bank account, huh?"

"Yeah, I, uh… I realized something." Nick gave her a small smile,

"What?"

"I'd do anything for you, Jess."

Jess smiled at his confession and moves to get closer to him, "Hey… Thank you,"

During the whole processing fee fiasco, Nick realized more than what he already knew. Not only would he do anything for Jess but he also loved her. Would he tell her? No. No way. It's way too soon. But what she did just now, make a scene in the bank to support his views- that meant something to him. He picks her up and lands kisses on her neck and shoulder while she continued to express her views on the bank, "Yeah! We won eight dollars!" Nick chuckled at her actions and then realized something, "Banks suck! Banks suck!" Jess continued to rant as they made their way out of the bank.

"Jess, we gotta get home. Mia's a little tipsy," Nick sets Jess down as soon as they were in the parking lot. Jess notices the half asleep Mia in the back of Nick's car.

"Nick!"

"What?"

"Let's go!"

* * *

Passing Schmidt and Winston in the living room who were very busy with a candelabra, Nick carried his cousin all the way to Jess' room while she followed. She paused for a moment observing the two grown men on the couch and decided to leave them be. She quickly grabbed a bottle of water from the kitchen and made her way to her room.

Nick was in the process of tucking Mia in when Jess paused in her tracks. She stood by the door and didn't show herself when she heard Nick muttering something to Mia. She took a peek to see him wiping the strands of Mia's hair away from her face, "You can stay here as long as you want, lil M." He pressed a kiss to her forehead and butterflies came flying around Jess' stomach. She's seen Nick be vulnerable, sweet, romantic, funny, and angry but she's never seen him like this. She doesn't know what this is but she knows that seeing this side of him makes her fall even harder. There was just something about Mia that turned grumpy, ol Nick Miller into goo. She wanted to know so bad, but instead of barging in on the sweet moment, she turns around to the still, very grown men on the couch, fiddling with a candelabra.

"Hey… guys," she whispers at them to get their attention.

Both Schmidt and Winston look up, "To what do we owe the pleasure?" Winston asked in a weird, regal accent. Schmidt grimaced at the man next to him. Jess sat down close to them, still holding onto the bottle of water meant for Mia.

"Tell me about Mia. Why does Nick care about her so much?"

Schmidt and Winston were taken aback by the question,

"What… what are you talking about?" Schmidt asked, in a condescending tone, "they're cousins. They're related. That's called family, Jessica."

"Yeah, yeah I know that, but I've never met cousins as close as those two are," Jess continued to loudly whisper.

Winston was still rubbing the candelabra when he chimed in, "Well, Mia is a close link to Walt, so I guess in a way, Nick feels closer to his dad when it comes to Mia."

Jess was curious by what he meant, "Go on." Schmidt was now interested, as well.

"Growing up, you know, Pop-Pop wasn't around much," Schmidt and Jess nodded impatiently, "But every time Mia was over, he'd miraculously show up. He'd take Nick, Jamie and Mia on trips. He'd take them to games, amusement parks, zoos. Rarely… because he comes and goes. But every time he comes though, Mia is always there. So I guess, Nick wanted Mia around all the time, hoping that Pop-Pop would be around all the time, too. Nick got older, Mia got older, they got real close. Hence," Winston gestures to what Jess had mentioned earlier, "close cousins." Winston finally set the candelabra on the coffee table as he finished up his story. He looked at his two friends on the couch who had matching expressions. "What?"

A second of silence goes by until both Schmidt and Jess erupt into their reactions,

"You are the dumbest boy!"

"Winston, how do you not see it?!"

"I can't believe you."

"They're literally the same person,"

"I can't believe I didn't figure this out myself," Schmidt and Jess alternated with their reactions while Winston was still confused.

"What are you guys talking about?" Winston asked, still very much befuddled.

Schmidt groaned and stood up to go to the kitchen while Jess went to go deliver the bottled water to Mia, leaving Winston Bishop to sit in a puddle of his confusion. Winston picks up the candelabra and admires it for a few seconds until it hit him.

"Oh my god."

* * *

 _A/N: What? What could this mean? I really hope this story is a good way to get inside Nick's head more. Jess has Cece to go to while Nick, although he has Schmidt and Winston, we'd never get insight the way Mia does. I really hope you guys like this story so far. Feedback helps! Also, keep in mind, this story follows the plot of New Girl up until the most recent episode but I'm throwing two big twists. Once again, shoutout to mcloz98 for beta-ing!_


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